Cooling towers of varying designs are widely used in industry to remove waste heat from a process by natural evaporation of the cooling fluid. Cooling towers typically utilize a grid work of overhead nozzles to form a plurality of overlapping spray patterns to distribute hot water over the upper surface of a layer of fill material through which air is drawn. The water flows downward through the fill material as the air flows upward through or across the fill material whereby the heat of the water is transferred to the air.
The fill material utilized depends upon the tower application, which varies widely based on many factors. Fill types are “film fill” and “splash fill.” Film fill consists of thin, closely placed plastic surfaces over which the water spreads forming a thin film in contact with air. Many film fill structures exist, including corrugated and honeycombed structures. Film fill structures are typically supported within the cooling tower by placing the structures on a support surface or structure.
Splash fill consists of layers of vertically offset splash bars or slats which cause the falling water to spread and break into small droplets. Splash fill requires a support system to position the splash bars at the appropriate location in the cooling tower for proper operation. Typical support systems include support grids, commonly called hanger grids. The hanger grids are a mesh of perpendicular members usually spaced at fixed dimensions of 4 inches horizontally and either 4 or 8 inches vertically to form windows within which the splash bars are supported on the horizontal members.
The hanger grids are typically suspended from a support beam spanning a portion of the cooling tower. The support beam is often a piece of lumber, and the hanger grid is suspended from a bracket mounted to one side of the support beam. The load of multiple grids with multiple splash bars being impacted by the falling water applies a significant stress to the support beam, which can lead to deflection of the support beam and/or rotation of the support beam due to the tangential load applied to the bracket mounted on the side of the support beam. Either situation can lead to the position of the splash bars being altered, which can cause the cooling tower operating less efficiently, or to the failure of the support beam.
A need exists for a support beam that is durable, economical to manufacture, and simple to install. It is to such a support beam that the inventive concepts disclosed are directed.